In order to prepare and ship food items, such as baked goods, initially the food items must be properly prepared and then placed into proper shipping containers. For baked goods, this process normally involves the steps of forming and/or preparing, and baking the food items on a metal tray capable of withstanding the temperatures at which the food items are baked. After the items have been baked for an appropriate amount of time, the items are transferred from the metal tray to a separate shipping container, normally formed from a suitable material, such as a linerboard or corrugated medium. The food items thus positioned in the container are then wrapped or otherwise enclosed within the container to prepare the items for shipment.
With regard to the step of transferring the baked goods from the metal tray to the container, this step requires that the food items and tray be allowed to cool sufficiently to enable the items to be moved from the tray to the container for a number of reasons. The amount of time required for the items to cool greatly increases the amount of time required for the packaging of the food items. Thus, it is desirable to omit the step of transferring the baked food items from the metal trays to the corrugated shipping containers due to the time and expense required.
Furthermore, once the goods have been packaged and shipped to the ultimate consumer, it is difficult to remove the food items from within the container. Often times the container must be broken apart in order to enable the food items to be easily removed from the container.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop a container capable of holding the food items both during preparation or baking, and during shipment and that allows for the easy removal of the items from the container.